Dozens arrested for attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh

Police in Bangladesh have arrested dozens of people following violence against Hindus, a senior officer said on Sunday, after a spate of attacks prompted concerns that authorities were not doing enough to protect the country’s biggest minority.

Hindu homes and temples in the Brahmanbairs district of eastern Bangladesh have come under attack during the last week, after a local youth allegedly shared a Facebook post that some said denigrated the Masjid al-Haram – a holy site for Muslims.

Muslims protested and demanded action against the Hindu youth, who denied sharing the post. Police arrested the young man for hurting religious sentiment, but that failed to defuse tension and quell rioting

Abu Zafar, the officer in charge of Nasir Nagar police station in the district, told reporters so far 53 people had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in attacks and looting from Hindu homes

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) estimated more than 100 Hindu houses and 17 temples have been vandalised and looted since the violence began on October 30.

Rana Dasgupta, general secretary at the BHBCUC, told Reuters news agency the violence was aimed at driving people from their homes.

“The purpose of the attacks is to free this soil from the minority community and also to occupy their properties and assets,” Dasgupta said.

Attacks on Hindus, who make up about eight percent of the population, and other religious minorities are not uncommon in the mostly Muslim South Asian country, but the scale of the recent anti-Hindu violence is unusual.

Bangladesh’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has launched an investigation into the attacks. The head of its fact-finding committee said the violence was the result of a “pre-planned conspiracy”, and criticised local authorities for allowing the demonstrations that triggered the rioting to go ahead.

“The administration, including police, was negligent and callous in handling such a sensitive issue,” NHRC’s Enamul Hoque Chowdhury said.

The violence comes amid international concern about rising militancy in Bangladesh and the growing influence of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the country.

In July, assailants carried out an attack on a cafe in an upscale district of the capital, Dhaka, in which 22 people were killed – mostly non-Muslims and foreigners, including one American